Grilling or barbecuing food, such as with a conventional outdoor grill, has become very popular. One reason for its popularity is that outdoor or even indoor grilling imparts a unique and desired taste to the prepared food. In particular, meats, vegetables and a variety of other foods are grilled to have a different taste that is not achieved when the foods are prepared in a conventional way, such as with a stove or oven or in a frying pan.
Generally, outdoor grills or barbecues, as they are sometimes called, comprise an oven-like housing which contains a food support or grilling surface. The grilling surface includes a plurality of spaced bars, usually metal, which are parallel or crisscrossed to form a grill-like surface. Hence the name. The grill also includes a heating element to heat and cook food placed on the cooking surface. Generally, the heating element of a grill comprises a plurality or bed of briquettes which are heated by a flame to radiate heat to the food on the grilling surface. When grilling, the radiated heat normally passes directly to the food through the grill bars, without being obstructed.
The briquettes used for grilling may be made of disposable charcoal, which are lighted on fire and consumed by the fire as the food is cooked. Alternatively, in a gas grill, permanent rock-like. briquettes or lava rocks are heated by use of a gas flame to cook the food and may be used and re-used time and again. The radiated heat from the briquettes cooks the food, and the open grilling surface allows the drippings and juices from the food to fall onto the briquettes where the drippings are vaporized or burned to provide steam or smoke, respectively, which flavors the food. One drawback to grilling food, however, is that the food may be dried out or overcooked due to the direct heat of the briquettes which is not as easily controlled as the heat from a stove or oven. Furthermore, the drippings from the food cause flaming which sears the food further drying it and sealing it to prevent the desired thorough cooking of the food.
It is often desirable when grilling food, to impart a unique flavor to the food which is different and in addition to that flavor imparted by the grilling and the food's own natural juices. This is done by steaming or smoking the food while it cooks with a uniquely flavored steam or smoke. The flavored steam or smoke created by the heat of the grill permeates the food and imparts a unique taste thereto. Mesquite wood chips are sometimes burned while grilling to impart the flavor of the wood smoke to the meat. However, it may be desirable to provide other unique flavorings to the food, such as from a favorite liquid or sauce. Some flavoring can be accomplished by hand basting the food with the liquid or sauce as it cooks. However, basting requires continual attention to the basting process at regular intervals which is both inconvenient and messy. Further, hand basting may be uncomfortable and even dangerous, as the basting liquid must be applied to the food often over an open flame or heated briquettes. Additionally, too little basting, or late basting after the food is seared and cooked a certain amount, leaves the food dehydrated and only slightly flavored or smoked.
Several prior art devices have been utilized to periodically or continuously baste or steam food cooked in a grill. The prior art basting structures are complicated and expensive, while the prior art steamer devices prevent the desired flavoring of the food that is associated with the food's own natural juices by capturing the drippings which normally fall onto the heated briquettes to vaporize or burn.
Therefore, there is a need for an inexpensive, simple and effective way to steam or smoke food cooked on a grill to impart a unique flavor from a favorite liquid or sauce. There is further a need for a way to flavor the food while allowing the natural juices of the food to also participate in the flavoring. Still further, there is a need for a steamer device and method which operates automatically and continuously as the food cooks to free the cook from the task of continuously monitoring the flavoring process. There is a still further need for a simple steaming device which hydrates the food as it flavors the food and prevents flaming so that the food cooks thoroughly without searing.